Check your Tchaikovsky Quotient

It’s Tchaikovsky’s most performed, recorded and arguably his most beloved work: the “1812” Overture. Accordingly, when the San Diego Symphony wraps up its Summer Pops season this weekend, the “1812” will provide the grand finale.

But few classical pieces have more misconceptions. Here’s a quiz to test your TQ (Tchaikovsky Quotient). If your score is perfect, reward yourself by watching the Swingle Singers sing the “1812” on YouTube (you could say it’s a classical gas). If you miss more than five, your punishment is having to view the Subway “1812” commercial (also on youtube.com), well, 1,812 times seems fair enough.

1. Tchaikovsky wrote the “1812” Overture to commemorate:

a. The United States victory over the British in the War of 1812

b. The Russian victory over the French in the Battle of Borodino in 1812

2. Tchaikovsky’s own opinion of the work was:

a. It was without artistic merit

b. It was one of his most successful pieces

3. Tchaikovsky conducted the “1812” on a program dedicating:

a. The Academy of Music in Philadelphia

b. Carnegie Hall in New York City

4. The “1812” is often performed on national holidays. Its association with the holidays took hold:

a. In the rush to perform all things Tchaikovsky after Van Cliburn won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958

b. When Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops performed it with fireworks and cannons on a nationally broadcast Bicentennial concert in 1976

5. The cannons are one of the work’s most distinctive characteristics. They were:

a. Indicated in the score by Tchaikovsky

b. Added by Arturo Toscanni, a champion of Tchaikovsky and the ultimate showman

6. The “1812” contains two national anthems, but one of them was not the national anthem in 1812:

a. “The Marseillaise”

b. “God, Save the Tsar!”

7. The earliest recording of the work is:

a. Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony

b. Landon Ronald conducting the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra

8. The work has become so popular it’s often used in commercials. One of the earliest:

a. Quaker Puffed Wheat

b. Kellogg’s Rice Krispies

Answers (don't peek!):

1) b. The piece was commissioned in 1880 by Tsar Alexander I in honor of the Russian victory.

2) a. Tchaikovsky said the Overture had no merit “because I wrote it without warmth and without love.”

3) b. Carnegie Hall, during Tchaikovsky’s only United States tour.

4) b. The “1812” was a huge hit for Fiedler and the Boston Pops at the national celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial, giving it patriotic cred and prompting other orchestras to program it.

5) a. Tchaikovsky indicates exactly in the score where each of 16 cannon shots should be fired (the fireworks are not in the score).

6) b. “God, Save the Tsar!” was the national anthem during Tchaikovsky’s era, but there was none in 1812.

7) b. The Royal Albert Hall recording on 78s is generally considered the earliest. (For those looking for a more practical recording, consider Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic; Bernstein knew how to put on a show.)